1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the game of golf, and more specifically, it relates to an alignment system for a golf club which improves accuracy.
2. Description of Related Art
A golf course generally has 18 holes spread over a landscaped area that customarily includes a number of hazardsxe2x80x94water, rough, sand traps (also known as bunkers), and treesxe2x80x94that are designed to make the game more difficult. Difficulty is also increased by the varying distances among holes. Play on each hole is begun at the tee area, from which players xe2x80x9ctee offxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdrivexe2x80x9d the ball into the fairway or onto the green. At the end of the holexe2x80x94which can vary in length from about 100 to 600 yards is the putting green, which surrounds the actual hole, or xe2x80x9ccup,xe2x80x9d into which the ball must be putted in order to complete the hole. Saint Andrews in Scotland, Augusta National in Georgia (site of the annual Masters tournament), and Pebble Beach in California. have some of the most famous and difficult courses.
In the putting segment of the game of golf, the objective is to direct the golf ball across the putting green until it comes to rest in the hole or cup. The putting green is a smooth and closely cut grassy area surrounding the hole. An accurately hit golf ball will travel along a path to the hole. In the case where the path between the ball and hole contains a slope to one side or the other, the golfer will try to determine the proper target direction which will allow the ball (once struck) to follow a curved path to the hole.
Although the putting green is usually conditioned to provide an optimum surface over which to putt, the inability to properly aim the ball is a golfer""s major shortcoming. When putting, it is very important that the face of the putter be placed exactly at a right angle in line to the target direction at the moment when the putter impacts the ball. Alignment of the putter adjacent to the ball in this manner is difficult when the ball rests even a short distance from the hole, since the golfer is usually unable to see the ball, club head and target simultaneously. This problem also exists when using any type of golf club.
In general, a golfer attempts to ensure that club head alignment and motion are co-linear with the intended direction at the exact point of impact with the ball. A number of patents have attempted to provide improvements in a golf club that would help a golfer ensure similar co-linearity of club head alignment and motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,421,765 is directed to a golf dub including a sighting mirror for aligning the face of the golf club with a golf ball and the flag stick used on the putting green of a golf coarse. Accordingly, the invention comprises a putter that enables the golfer to view the putter, golf ball, and a hole or flagstick simultaneously. The invention includes a mirror or other reflective surface, attached to the head of the golf club in such a manner that, when the player places the club in position to putt the golf ball, the mirror will reflect an image of any object in the area in front of the face of the golf club, both horizontally and vertically in front of the face of the golf club so that the object can be seen by the golfer in his normal stance above the golf club. The patent can present erroneous feedback to the golfer, due to the lack of an effective means for a alignment between the putter head and the golfer""s eye.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,500 is directed to a putter which includes a mirror attachment that enables a golfer to view the putter, a golf ball and a hole or flag stick simultaneously. The invention includes a mirror or other reflective surface, attached to the head of the putter in such a manner that, when the player places the putter in position to putt the golf ball, the mirror will reflect an image of any object in the area in front of the face of the putter. It is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus for positioning the face of the head of a golf club so that its vertical and lateral axes are disposed exactly at right angles to the direction a golf ball must travel to enter the hole of a putting green. In this patent also, there is no effective means for alignment between the putter head and the golfer""s eye. This can lead to erroneous feedback to the golfer. It is apparent from the figures that both patents discussed above add mass unbalance about the center of the putter face which undesirably moves the xe2x80x9csweet spotxe2x80x9d associated with that putter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,749 is directed to a golf club head which includes a front face with a negative inclination; a middle section inclined about 45xc2x0 and a section which acts as a mirror with a view to lining up the stroke. A first object of the patent is to prevent the ball from being sliced or hooked. A second object of the patent is to obtain a suitable line in order to aim the club with complete independence of the position and stance of the player. This patent shows the same lack of alignment (from putter head to the golfer""s eye), as evidenced in U.S. Pat. No. 3,421,765 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,500, which provides erroneous feedback to the golfer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,472 is a sighting device for a putter and includes an eye aligning mirror having a horizontal reflective surface and a ball and target aligning mirror. The device is used for aligning the putting face of the blade square to a target path between a ball and target while aligning the eye of the player over the putter club head. The stated object of the patent is to provide a sighting device which may be attached to the blade of some types of putters without having to modify the putter blade so that the same putter may be used by a player in both practice and play under the rules of golf. The player shows a limited means for alignment of the golfer""s eye to the putter head, which is required for reliable feedback about the putter face. The mechanism used (a mirror laying flat on top of the putter so the golfer may see his eye in the reflection) fails in five important ways. First, this increases the likelihood of seeing the sun reflected in this mirror which poses an optical hazard of temporary blindness or after images that impair vision. Second, the putter head will tilt out of alignment to the golfer""s eye during a swing except in the extremely unlikely event where the swing is on a circular arc centered on the golfer""s eye. Third, the design is limited to a given style or type of putter head. Fourth, the putter head striking surface is reduced to approximately twenty-five percent of the original putter head striking surface. Fifth, due to the small size of the mirror and its distance to the eye, the golfer may get confused about which eye sees which, e.g., right seeing right, right seeing left and right seeing left while simultaneously left seeing right.
It is desirable that a golf club include the advantage of a type of visual feedback to the golfer which would ensure that the alignment of the club head be co-linear with the intended direction at the point of impact. It is also desirable to provide a golf club that includes a means for insuring that the position of the club head with respect to the golfer""s view, remains within a prescribed plane, both before and during the putting stroke. It would also be beneficial if the alignment of the golf club to the intended target included a means for on-axis viewing of the golf ball and target in a properly balanced club. Additionally, it would be helpful if the golf club include visual feedback to assist and verify a straight swing of the club head in the plane that includes the intended target direction. The present invention provides these and other advantages and benefits.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an alignment system for a golf club which significantly improves putting accuracy.
It is another object of the invention to provide a golf club with an alignment system which significantly improves the club head alignment for the golfer.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which can be used to improve swing accuracy.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method for significantly improving alignment of a golf club swing.
The invention is a compound alignment system which may be attached to the club or incorporated directly into the head of a golf club. The compound alignment system is comprises of two independent alignment systems which may share common pars such as a turning mirror. The first alignment system will be called the parallax correction alignment system because it uses a system to remove visual parallax to properly align the golfer""s eye over the club head. The second alignment system will be termed the sighting alignment system because the golfer sets his sights on his target while looking into the turning mirror. When used together, these alignment systems allow the golfer to line up a stroke, such as a putt, much more accurately than would be possible without this visual feedback.
In one example, a putter head has a forward striking face for impacting the ball, and would have a rear upper portion which holds a reflecting surface that is angled to present a view of the golf ball and the target upon sighting alignment. The mirror usually has a protective glass or plastic layer above the reflecting surface. This transparent spacer with a thin line (co-planar with the surface normal of the striking face) painted on the top surface constitutes an embodiment of the parallax correction alignment system. A reflection of the line is visible from the reflective surface. For proper parallax correction alignment, the line on the top of the transparent spacer obscures the reflected line in the golfer""s view. While maintaining parallax correction alignment, the club head is translated until the golf ball is aligned evenly about the overlaid lines to center the ball on the striking face and then sight the target in the reflection viewed by the golfer. When this alignment is maintained during the golfer""s stroke, the directional accuracy is improved dramatically.
An advantage of this invention over existing putters and other golf clubs is the elimination or reduction of initial set-up error. Trial and error experimentation to interpret or adjust for the off-axis view is eliminated. The player""s confidence will ultimately be improved through the reduction in alignment uncertainty caused by improper or questionable set-up. Additionally, proper swing motion and the development of correct muscle memory for consistent golf strokes is possible when the alignment described above is done in two or more locations such as near the ball and when the putter head is a foot or more distance from the ball before it is struck. Muscle memory is reinforced by observing that one can swing back and return to the ball and still be aligned. Accuracy gain is a welcome form of feedback that gives confidence to any golfer.
Set-up error is eliminated or reduced through the iterative alignment procedure which is visual and easy to learn. The procedure first utilizes the parallax correction alignment system to ensure accurate positioning of the golfer""s eye relative to the club head. Next, the sighting alignment system provides an on-axis view for club head, ball and target alignment. Hence, the article is a new training aid, as well as a club that could be used during an actual golf game.